2 . This month, science fiction magazine Lights peed changed its normal publishing schedule to bring readers a special issue: “Women Destroy Science Fiction! ”

It’s more than just a collection of stories entirely edited and written by women. It’s an exhibition of all the ways in which women are writing—and have written.

Many of the stories will be considered the best hard science fiction even by the pickiest critics (评论家). For example, Tananarive Due’s Like Daughter deals with what happens when humans have easy access to cloning. The Unfathomable Sisterhood of Ick by Charlie Jane Anders takes place in a future where changing brain chemistry is as common as taking vitamins now.

However, it is also true that the authors are more focused on the relations between people, or between people and society, or changing cultural and gender roles. There are stories that refuse to stay firmly within science fiction borders. For example, James Tiptree Jr. ’s Love Is the Plan and the Plan Is Death is a mixture of horror, mystery and even love, something not commonly seen in science fiction.

So are women destroying science fiction?

If your idea of science fiction is limited to the concept formed by works like Isaac Asimov’s Night Fall and Arthur Charles Clarke’s Childhood’s End, then many of the stories within these pages may well seem like devastation.

“But the stories we read and the stories we tell shape who we are, ” Pat Murphy once said in a famous speech back in 1991. “They also shape the culture they’re born into. Thus, if women keep writing such kind of science fiction, and keep calling it science fiction, the room for science fiction will expand. They will exist nicely beside other kinds of science fiction. ”

I cannot agree more. Women have the right to create a space for themselves within science fiction. one filled with their dreams, experiences and realities.

1. What is special about the latest edition of Lights peed?

A．All the stories are written by female novelists.

B．It is a collection of the published love stories.

C．It has been well received by most of the critics.

D．Every story in it belongs to hard science fiction.

2. Which of the following can be considered non-science-fiction in a strict sense?

A．Like Daughter.	B．The Unfathomable Sisterhood of Ick.
C．Childhood’s End.	D．Love Is the Plan and the Plan Is Death.

3. What does the underlined word “devastation” in paragraph 6 mean?

A．Destruction.	B．Progress.
C．Contribution.	D．Reward.

4. What did Pat Murphy mean in his speech?

A．Science fiction is an important part of our life.

B．Women are unsuitable to write science fiction.

C．The definition of science fiction should be expanded.

D．Science fiction should focus mainly on future technologies.

3 . 18-year-old Alison Sanger is an amazing student. Maybe too amazing— the book opens with Alison lying to her mother about having food poisoning so she can take a test on Shakespeare. More than getting good grades, her true motivation is to beat her opponent, Ethan Molloy.

Ethan has gone toe-to-toe with Alison on everything throughout school. They’re both honors students. They are co-vice presidents of the senior class. They both hope to get into Harvard. The fact that Ethan and Alison seem to always do everything at the same time turned into a competition a long time ago. Whoever does worse on an exam must do an unpleasant task of the winner’s choosing. If someone misses the exam, they forfeit.

This unfriendly competition is so famous that everyone at Fairview knows about it, students and staff. They’re even more annoyed by it than Alison. The principal takes matters in hand by asking the two to co-plan a previous class’s ten-year reunion after someone else dropped the ball. As you might imagine, tensions arise and passion is aroused. In a certain way, What’s Not to Love is a little like The Hunger Games. Like Katniss with Peeta, Alison is constantly evaluating her own emotions against Ethan’s supposed strategy.

While reading this book, I was forced to wonder exactly how healthy this relationship was. I assumed everyone’s intentions in the book were honorable—the authors themselves turned out all right in the end, and I’m incredibly glad for that. Wibbroka fans will not be disappointed—What’s Not to Love is story of soulmates and passion; its short chapters and tight pacing carry the reader along all the way to the satisfying conclusion. Despite its faults—which the text itself calls to attention—fans of enemies-to-lovers stories like How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days will feel right at home here.

1. Why does Alison lie to her mother?

A．To treat her food poisoning.

B．To prove that she’s also amazing.

C．To be able to be tested on schedule.

D．To please her friend with good grades.

2. What does “forfeit” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Compete.	B．Withdraw.
C．Cooperate.	D．Succeed.

3. How does the principal’s attempt to help the two girls end?

A．They prove their abilities separately.

B．They get the final result of their competition.

C．They set up a better relationship between them.

D．They use it as another chance to continue the competition.

4. What does the author think of the book?

A．Worth reading.	B．Useless.
C．Unreasonable.	D．Perfect.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,     1     （publish） in 1876, is one of America's best-loved stories. It has double appeal. First, it attracts nearly all young people, regardless of time or culture because of the     2     （excite） adventures of a typical boy during the mid-nineteenth century. Secondly, the novel attracts the adult reader     3     looks back on his or her own childhood. In fact， at the beginning of the book Twain wrote, ''Although my book     4     (intend) for the entertainment of boys and girls, part of my plan has been to     5     (pleasant) remind adults of what they once were themselves.”   Thus, the novel is a     6     (combine) of the past and the present. Although the Adventures of Tom Sawyer is set in a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River sometime during     7    1840s, readers from all parts of the world respond to the     8     (variety) adventures experienced by Tom and his group of friends. Twain's ability     9     (discover) universal experiences and dreams and fears of childhood leads to the success     10     the novel.